


Waltzing Matilda

by ProspertheXVIII



Category: The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert (1994)
Genre: F/F, LGBT, Pre-Movie, single mother
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-27 04:05:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9960263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProspertheXVIII/pseuds/ProspertheXVIII
Summary: Tick had never had to deal with this crap. Never been woken at stupid o'clock in the morning to deal with a child crying over nothing; never changed a shitty nappy, or had to clean vomit off of the walls. He'd scarcely even held the boy in his arms. Not that it was her place to decide what he could and couldn't do with his life - not at all. But for him to act the doting hetero husband for two years, only to 'find himself' and jump ship practically the minute the baby was out ground her gears a little.Marion thinks on her husband, her son, and her girlfriend when said son's crying wakes her at an ungodly hour of the morning.





	

"Fuck..." The crying snapped Marion from her uneasy sleep; the woman swiping at the hair on her face with one hand, the other thumping violently at her nightstand, searching for the lampswitch as she cursed under her breath. She felt her fingers brush the ashtray, knocking it to the floor with a loud 'thud' and causing her to swear once more - the woman by her side stirring and moaning, reaching out a hand in the darkness for her as she mumbled her name. She shushed her, brushing the hand away as she stood up, eventually finding the switch and groping around blindly as she adjusted to the sudden light for a shirt or something of that ilk to preserve her dignity. Her partner seemed to be far more awake now too, the woman rolling over and rubbing at her eyes with a balled fist, groaning loudly as she slurred inarticulate words. 

 

"Go back to sleep, love," she said, still half-asleep herself; her voice thick. She winced as another of Benji's sharp cries pierced the night, hurrying to get to him before he woke the entire hotel - though it was presently Rhonda that she was most worried about; bugger her clientele. At least they knew she had a child. Sure, the likelihood was that he'd just spewed or crapped - probably the former; he seemed to have inherited Tick's weak stomach among other things - but regardless, she couldn't bring herself to leave him. What if it was something of greater seriousness? There was no way in hell she could explain that away to Tick; she didn't want to have to. 

"The hell is that?" Rhonda groaned, grabbing Marion's pillow and pulling it over her head to block the noise out. "I'm tryna sleep here." 

"I know, darling, I know..." She spoke hurriedly, attempting to dart from the room before Rhonda turned more vigorous attentions to her - at this point, she could fill a bottle or change a diaper in her sleep; she could be back in five minutes. "It's probably just some kid in someone else's room," she added fervently. 

 

She didn't give the other woman an opportunity to respond before darting from the room in a hurried mess, still pulling an oversized t-shirt over her head; her half-braided hair dishevelled and tumbling into her eyes as she opened the door into Benji's bedroom, shushing the child with a strong sense of urgency. She scooped the boy up in her arms from his crib; no shit, which was frankly lovely. And no evidence of throw-up anywhere either - double whammy. She gently jogged her crying son up and down in her arms, his night-light glowing a soft blue in the corner of the room. He'd quietened a little now; the screams subsided to grizzling as he wriggled around uncomfortably. 

 

Tick had never had to deal with this crap, she thought with a moment of resentment. Never been woken at stupid o'clock in the morning to deal with a child crying over nothing; never changed a shitty nappy, or had to clean vomit off of the walls. He'd scarcely even held the boy in his arms. Not that it was her place to decide what he could and couldn't do with his life - not at all. But for him to act the doting hetero husband for two years, only to 'find himself' and jump ship practically the minute the baby was out ground her gears a little. It was a strange feeling - she didn't resent Tick, nor would she ever wish to live without Benji. But it was damn hard - knowing that he was prancing around Sydney in a frock having the time of his life and no doubt being pumped every other night by attractive men, whilst she was stuck where he had left her.

 

She lived, breathed, ate, slept, and shat work at this point - keeping the hotel afloat was hard enough on her own; not lest doing the entire thing with the baby he had left her with tying her down, and potential partners turning on their heels the second they found out about said baby...She'd barely had a drink since she found out she was in the family way - a year and a half ago, practically. She hadn't been out once; their 'friends' had buggered off around the time when Tick had - a moody divorcee with an infant constantly in tow was never about to be the life of the party - hell, she'd be lucky if she got a two-second fag break in a day. And even that she couldn't do if Benj was in the vicinity  - at least, not without garnering filthy looks. 

 

Oh well - que sera sera and all that jazz. She pursed her lips, letting out a sigh before pressing a small kiss to Benji's forehead, humming under her breath to him as she shuffled around the room with the little thing in her arms - he'd begun to settle, contentedly sucking on his fingers as her humming began to form itself into articulate words.

 

* * *

 

"Where were you?" Rhonda looked up a little accusingly, sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed with a cigarette dangling from the corner of her mouth; svelte legs folded under her, and her dark hair a scrubby mess. 

"Needed a crap," she muttered, sitting back down as she peeled off her shirt again.

"Incorrect - unless you're for some reason in the habit of singing 'Waltzing Matilda' to yourself on the shitter nowadays," she paused, taking a drag as she inched a little closer to Marion; draping an arm around the woman's shoulders. Marion tensed up uncomfortably, giving a thin-lipped grimace and pushing herself away again. "By the way, who's Benji?"

 

To this, she flinched away entirely, letting Rhonda's arm drop from her shoulders; lying down again and pulling the covers over herself with a jerk of her arm; her back turned to her partner. 

"Just cause you can't see me doesn't mean I'm not still here," Rhonda said, her eyes rolling. "Marion, what's going on?"

"See, this is why I never wanted you to stay the night...He's my son," she admitted begrudgingly, her voice muffled. "The door's that way. Sorry for wasting your time."

"I...what?" She looked at her with a furrowed brow again, placing a hand gently on Marion's shoulder. "Son? I- Marion, are you okay?"

"I'm fan-fucking-tastic," she grumped, sitting up in the bed with her arms folded, looking daggers af the other woman. Rhonda cringed. "They normally take less time to leave. You've found out - I've got a kid. Apparently, that means as far as being dateable goes, I'm spent. Now off you trot." 

"I'm not going anywhere," she said firmly, crossing her legs. "You...don't be upset."

"Look," she furiously wiped at her eyes with the heel of her hand. "I've not lied about anything. And I'm sorry I never told you...but everyone else has always high-tailed it in the past once they found out about him..."

"I..." she stumbled, chewing her words as she tried to come up with a reasonable response. "...well, it's a shock. A little," she admitted. "But I can't say it's the be-all and end-all - besides, we've only had a few dates, love. It's too early to decide what our future's gonna be, and I know that there are a lotta things about me I'd hate in a person more than them having a kid. Uh...how old is he?"

"What?" Marion spoke quietly, a little surprised. 

"I asked how old he was. I dunno - I'm not good at babies. I think that's what you're supposed to ask; I mean, I already know his name. Ben?"

"Benjamin," she corrected. "I call him Benji. He's about eight and a half months." She gave a wan smile, not looking at the other woman fully. "He's normally quite good," she added quickly. "Quiet. I think he just knew I needed him to keep shut up tonight, so did exactly the opposite to piss me off. Little bugger..." Rhonda laughed, smiling a little too as she placed an arm around Marion's shoulder. 

"Sweet. I..." she paused for a moment again, looking to Marion with a slight air of concern - her expression alone worrying the woman. "I hate to ask, but...what about his daddy?"

"Hmm?"

"I just..." she awkwardly toyed with a lock of hair at the back of her neck, grimacing. "I don't want him to come storming back onto the scene demanding to see his little boy, only to get pissy about him being raised around his mum's lesbian lover. I dunno."

"No fear," Marion chuckled. "Last time I checked, he was bumming his way around Sydney in a frock." She scoffed a little. "Selfish shitbag."  
Rhonda gave a wide-eyed smirk, a snort of a laugh escaping her. "Wow...and were you...y'know?"

She nodded. "Two years, or just about. Long enough to open this place and procreate. Still..." she muttered, casting her eyes to the wedding ring that still sat on her nightstand. "I can't say I didn't half-expect it."

"Christ - what did he do on your wedding night?" She glanced at Marion again, nudging her with an elbow. "The best man?"

"Ha-ha," she sighed a little, clearly morose. Rhonda' face fell as she realised she'd upset the other woman. "I can't say I don't miss him, honestly. Childhood sweethearts and all the rest of it." She shrugged, clearing her throat a little. "Still - he's gone. I'm stuck here. Not much I can do about it now."

**Author's Note:**

> This has been stagnating in the notes on my phone for a long time, and I figured I should post it before I forget about it. 
> 
> It occurred to me a while ago that Marion has never featured in my pieces in any format besides mentions, so finally she got her own centric fic. I don't doubt that she and Tick still have a degree of a relationship by way of being friends, but I think that improves with the years. I like to imagine she was still bitter about the whole thing for a good while. Also couldn't help but tie Marion's inferred bisexuality into the whole shebang. 
> 
> Rhonda is based shamelessly upon the Muriel's Wedding character of the same name. I couldn't resist


End file.
